One week after new SOLAS regulations came into force (July 1, 2016), Avery Weigh-Tronix has received a number of calls from distressed shippers across the supply chain who had hoped to rely on obtaining their verified gross mass (VGM) at the port.

Reports consist of containers waiting at the dock side for five days or more while shippers wait for their weights to be read. The new regulations state that any container arriving at port without a VGM will not be shipped. Anxious shippers are now turning to weighing solutions at their site to guarantee compliance and that their containers will ship on time.

Speaking on behalf of Avery Weigh-Tronix, Stewart Campbell, logistics divisional manager said: “We have been concerned for a while over possible delays at ports because of the large number of containers arriving without a VGM. I feel this is just the start of many backlogs for shippers over the coming weeks and months.

“The only way to guarantee that your shipment is not delayed and will leave port on time is to weigh your container and provide the VGM before it leaves your site. We ask anyone who was relying on weighing at port and is now worried about backlogs to contact Avery Weigh-Tronix; we have a wide range of approved SOLAS weighing solutions available for both hire and purchase.”

Up until just a few weeks ago surveys showed that a large number of supply chain businesses were still unaware of the new weight enforcements coming into force. A survey carried out by Avery Weigh-Tronix at May’s Multimodal exhibition showed an alarming 56 per cent of supply chain professionals were still unaware of the changes affecting their industry*.